Happy Valentine’s Day from Texas Pepper Jelly!
Valentine conversation hearts are quite possibly the most popular candy of this holiday, but honestly, you know, they really aren’t very tasty. They’re just fun.
Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to have delicious personalized conversation hearts? Of course it would. Here’s how to make Valentine Conversation Hearts!
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup
- 2 pounds of powdered sugar, plus a little extra for “dusting”
- Assorted Texas Pepper Jellies
- Heart-shaped cutters, various sizes
- Food coloring and toothpicks, or food coloring markers
What to do:
Put the gelatin, water, and corn syrup in a small bowl and mix well. Microwave until the gelatin dissolves (about 30 seconds) and stir well.
Pour this mixture into a large bowl and add 1 cup of powdered sugar. Using a hand mixer, mix until the powdered sugar is blended in.
Add another cup of powdered sugar, again mixing (on low) until it’s all blended. Continue to add sugar and mix, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a large spoon. The candy will start out very watery but will soon become a very stiff dough.
Once you’ve mixed in all the powdered sugar, dust the countertop with powdered sugar and scrape all the candy dough onto the work surface. The dough will be very sticky and stiff. Dust the top of the dough with powdered sugar and begin to knead until the dough is satiny and not sticky. This might take a while.
Divide the dough into as many portions as you have colors and flavors. To flavor and color the dough, roll out one of your dough sections into a palm-sized disc and add a few drops of coloring and flavoring to the center, then fold it over. I’d wear disposable gloves for this part if I were you.) Knead the color and flavor-filled dough until each portion of dough is colored and flavored.
Dust your countertop and rolling pin with powdered sugar again and roll out each of the candy portions to the desired thickness. (about 1/4 inch)
Cut out your hearts with cookie cutters of uniform or various sizes, and transfer the hearts to a baking sheet or pizza pan lined with waxed or parchment paper. Let the hearts air-dry for most of the day. If your hearts are too moist, the ink will run.
When the hearts are dry, write your messages on them with a toothpick dipped in food coloring, or with a food coloring marker. Be original.
With personalized Texas Pepper Jelly conversation hearts, you can truly get your message across to the people you love best.
Be nice, now. . . .